Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2010-03-15 An Enhanced Data Model and Tools for Analysis and Visualization of Levee Simulations Thomas Richard Griffiths Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Griffiths, Thomas Richard, "An Enhanced Data Model and Tools for Analysis and Visualization of Levee Simulations" (2010). Theses and Dissertations. 2061. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2061 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. An Enhanced Data Model and Tools for Analysis and Visualization of Levee Simulations Thomas R. Griffiths A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Norman L. Jones, Chair Alan K. Zundel E. James Nelson Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Brigham Young University Thesis Completed April 2010 Copyright © 2010 Thomas R. Griffiths All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT An Enhanced Data Model and Tools for Analysis and Visualization of Levee Simulations Thomas R. Griffiths Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Master of Science The devastating levee failures associated with hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the more recent Midwest flooding, placed a spotlight on the importance of levees and our dependence on them to protect life and property. In response to levee failures associated with the hurricanes, Congress passed the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 which established a National Committee on Levee Safety. The committee was charged with developing recommendations for a National Levee Safety Program. The Secretary of the Army was charged with the establishment and maintenance of a National Levee Database. The National Levee Database is a critical tool in assessing and improving the safety of the nation’s levees. However, the NLD data model, established in 2007, lacked a structure to store seepage and slope stability analyses – vital information for assessing the safety of a levee. In response, the Levee Analyst was developed in 2008 by Dr. Norm Jones and Jeffrey Handy. The Levee Analysis Data Model was designed to provide a central location, compatible with the National Levee Database, for storing large amounts of levee seepage and slope stability analytical data. The original Levee Analyst geoprocessing tools were created to assist users in populating, managing, and analyzing Levee Analyst geodatabase data. In an effort to enhance the Levee Analyst and provide greater accessibility to levee data, this research expanded the Levee Analyst to include modifications to the data model and additional geoprocessing tools that archive GeoStudio SEEP/W and SLOPE/W simulations as well as export the entire Levee Analyst database to Google Earth. Case studies were performed to demonstrate the new geoprocessing tools’ capabilities and the compatibility between the National Levee Database and the Levee Analyst database. A number of levee breaches were simulated to prototype the enhancement of the Levee Analyst to include additional feature classes, tables, and geoprocessing tools. This enhancement would allow Levee Analyst to manage, edit, and export two-dimensional levee breach scenarios. Keywords: National Levee Database, Levee Analyst, GeoStudio, SEEP/W, SLOPE/W, GMS, WMS, GSSHA, levee breach, Google Earth, borehole log, seepage, slope stability ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful for the research assistance I have received from many individuals. I wish to thank my advisor, Dr. Norman L. Jones, for his help and encouragement. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. E. James Nelson and Dr. Alan K. Zundel, for their assistance. Finally, I wish to thank my wife and parents for their continual support. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... ix 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 National Levee Database ................................................................................................ 2 1.2 Levee Analyst ................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Literature Review ........................................................................................................... 6 1.3.1 GIS-Based Levee Database Management Systems .................................................... 6 1.3.2 Current Practice for Modeling and Assessment of Levee Breach Scenarios .............. 7 1.4 Research Objectives ........................................................................................................ 8 2 Expanded Levee Analyst Tools .......................................................................................... 11 2.1 Import GeoStudio Simulation ....................................................................................... 13 2.2 Export Raster From Attribute Field .............................................................................. 17 2.3 Export Cross Section To KML ..................................................................................... 22 3 Revised Levee Analyst Tools and Schema ........................................................................ 25 3.1 FileType Coded-Value Domain .................................................................................... 25 3.2 Slope Stability Table ..................................................................................................... 26 3.3 Simulations Query Geoprocessing Tool ....................................................................... 27 3.4 Export Simulation Geoprocessing Tool ........................................................................ 28 4 Case Study: St. Louis National Levee Database .............................................................. 31 4.1 Merging Levee Analyst Schema with the Existing National Levee Database ............. 32 4.1.1 Adding the Seepage, Slope Stability, Simulation, and Executables Tables ............. 32 4.1.2 Adding and Populating Fields in the levee_centerline and cross_section_line Feature Classes .......................................................................................................... 32 4.2 Populating Seepage, Slope Stability, and Simulation Tables ....................................... 35 4.2.1 Creating and Exporting SEEP2D and UTEXAS Simulations in GMS .................... 35 v 4.2.2 Creating SEEP/W and SLOPE/W Simulations in GeoStudio 2004 and 2007 .......... 36 4.2.3 Archiving GeoStudio Simulations ............................................................................ 40 4.3 Populating the Executables Table ................................................................................. 41 4.4 Executing the Simulations Query Geoprocessing Tool ................................................ 41 4.5 Executing the Export Simulation Geoprocessing Tool ................................................. 42 4.6 Populating the borehole_point Feature Class ............................................................... 45 4.6.1 Adding Additional Fields to the borehole_point Feature Class ................................ 45 4.6.2 Populating the Additional Fields in the borehole_point Feature Class ..................... 46 4.7 Executing the Export Raster From Attribute Field Geoprocessing Tool ...................... 46 4.8 Executing the Layer To KML Geoprocessing Tool ..................................................... 49 4.9 Executing the Export Cross Section To KML Geoprocessing Tool ............................. 49 4.10 Exporting the Remaining Feature Classes .................................................................... 50 4.11 Viewing the KML and KMZ Files in Google Earth ..................................................... 50 5 Case Study: Southern Texas Levee Data .......................................................................... 57 5.1 Creating the Levee Analyst Geodatabase ..................................................................... 58 5.2 Digitizing the Levee Centerline and Levee Cross Sections .......................................... 58 5.3 Archiving UTEXAS and SEEP2D Simulations ........................................................... 59 5.4 Archiving GeoStudio Simulations ................................................................................ 61 5.5 Executing the Export Cross Section To KML Geoprocessing Tool ............................. 62 5.6 Populating and Exporting the Borehole Feature Class ................................................. 62 5.6.1 Creating Additional Attribute Table Fields .............................................................. 62 5.6.2 Populating the Raster Field ....................................................................................... 63 5.6.3 Executing the Export Raster From Attribute Table Geoprocessing Tool ................. 63 5.6.4 Executing the Layer To KML Geoprocessing Tool.................................................. 63 5.7 Exporting the Remaining Feature Classes ...................................................................